The Weakness In Me
by WhereIvegone
Summary: Ashley/Maria/Santino triangle...song fic using the song "the weakness in me." Maria is stuck between two lovers, how will she chose? Contains femslash... If you don't like femslash, then don't read this story!


Title: The weakness in me

Rating: T… nothing bad

Pairing: Ashley/Maria/Santino Triangle

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything or anyone… ermm… no one was harmed in the making on this fanfic… please don't sue me… please :-/

Summary: Song fic, using "the weakness in me." Maria is stuck between two lovers… how will she pick? Contains femslash… if you don't like femslash then don't read this fic… it's plain and simple...

**So, I wrote this fic ages ago and was finally convinced to post it lol. The song, "the weakness is me" is by Joan Armatrading.. although i was listening to the Melissa Etheridge version while writing this fic... It's an awesome song... the Keisha White version is alright too but in my opinion, no cover surpasses the Melissa Etheridge version lol It was difficult for me not to write Santino as a major jerk lol ask ImissTrishStratus (I think I complained to her during the entire writing process and after it), lol it was probabaly the hardest thing I've had to do fanfic wise... I just don't like him lol but I managed to be somewhat unbiased lol That's my mindless rambling for today.. onto the fic... **

* * *

Maria couldn't concentrate. She knew she had to go out there in a few and do her kiss cam segment and not just any old kiss cam segment either…this was a _Royal Rumble _kiss cam segment, pay per view!! Which meant, even more than usual, she was going to have to smile and pretend like everything was alright when it totally wasn't. This whole Playboy thing had spiraled out of control until, well, until it was barely even about Playboy anymore and that distressed her immensely.

She had always sorta had a thing for Ashley ever since she won the diva search contest but she was positive nothing was ever going to come of that so she quickly moved on and then along came Santino. He was sweet and kind and romantic and she really did fall for him and everything was great until Ashley popped back on the scene fresh from her little adventure in China and they had re-bonded and soon, 'never gonna happen' spiraled into 'it's happening right now' and Maria really didn't know what to do. She knew the 'right' thing to do. The 'right' thing to do was to break things off with Ashley before Santino actually found out what was going on between them, but somehow, Maria was sure Santino already knew. He had to… that had to be the reason for his sudden hostility towards her, hostility, she was sure she deserved, hostility that only seemed to worsen when Ashley was anywhere near her, hostility that was nowhere near the hostility he actually showed towards Ashley. And that was totally reason enough to do the 'right' thing but she just couldn't… she didn't want to hurt Santino, she truly, honestly didn't but she couldn't imagine ending what she had with Ashley, not after she waited so long for it to develop.

_**I'm not the sort of person who falls in and quickly out of love  
But to you I gave my affection right from the start  
I have a lover who loves me  
How could I break such a heart  
But still you get my attention**_

_Knock _

_Knock _

_Knock _

"Maria!"

Maria turned to the door, staring at it almost as if it were a foreign object. Nothing about the woman currently knocking it was foreign to her though.

She didn't understand why Ashley always did this to her. She had the knack for just 'stopping by to say hello' when she knew she was with Santino or calling her in the middle of the night when she knew she would be laying right next to Santino and then Maria would always end up having to lie and say something like it was a wrong number when obviously it wasn't because there was no way a wrong number could call her every single night. And then, she would always wait until Santino fell asleep (if he really was asleep) and sneak off into Ashley's room where she'd stay until early hours of the morning... and she'd subconsciously watch the clock as she lay limbs tangled with Ashley, fingers running through soft blonde hair and she'd sigh often because the clock just seemed to tick away the time they had together. And then that time would come and she'd have to shuffle through discarded clothes, dressing as quickly as possible, as Ashley watched with that amused smirk. And when she was finally dressed and at the door, Ashley would always say it and it always made Maria tingle with butterflies that were ready to take flight. 4 simples words, always whispered softly into the dark…. "I love you Maria…" and Maria would smile and shuffle off down the hall wondering if this affected Ashley as much as it affected her but the thought didn't last long because she'd make it back to her room and sometimes she even smelled like Ashley… and once or twice, she'd even realize she had accidently put on some of Ashley's clothes instead of hers but it didn't matter because Santino was always sleeping when she got back but he hadn't been sleeping the whole time. She can tell because there's always a bottle of half-finished alcohol on his bed side table, a bottle that wasn't there when she left and her heart always did that thing where she'd feel like she was sinking, still she'd get into the bed and wrap his strong arms around her… so different from the feel of Ashley's.

And then morning would come and as she and Santino shuffled out of the hotel room, Ashley would always do this, she'd always be right there; walking right past and she could almost feel as Santino tensed up…

_Knock _

_Knock _

_Knock _

"I'll get it…." Santino said and Maria could hear the hostility in his voice as he made his way over to the door. She could see a glimpse of Ashley as he shut the door and although the closed door made the conversation barely audible, she can hear that hostility in his voice increase as he 'greets' the blonde.

_**  
Why do you come here  
When you know I've got troubles enough  
**_

_**Why do you call me  
When you know I can't answer the phone**_

_**You make me lie  
When I don't want to  
Make someone else some kind of an unknowing fool  
Make me stay  
When I should not  
Are you so strong or is all the weakness in me**_

_**Why do you come here  
And pretend to be just passing by  
But I need see you  
And I mean to hold you tightly**_

Maria sighed, straining to hear the conversation.

"Maria can't talk right now, she's preparing for her first ever high definition kiss cam! Why anyone would want to see ugly sweaty New Yorkers kissing is beyond me… but Maria will do it. You see, that's my Maria! You ask her to do anything and she'll do it… she can't say no to anything or _anyone_…"

"That's probably why she's still with you Santino…"

Maria bit her bottom lip, running her fingers across her temple. She could practically see Ashley's smirk as the snide comment left her lips and if Ashley was smirking, that could only mean that Santino was definitely scowling.

"You can't talk to me like that ok? Let me save you the bother… Maria is not interested in _you_ or your booby magazine ok?? Arrivederci!!"

Maria sighed again watching as Santino slammed the door, retreating back into her dressing room. He wouldn't look her in the eye which was okay with her because she wasn't about to look him in the eye. Nope, that would just make her feel even guiltier and right now she was feeling pretty darn guilty!

She knew she couldn't let this continue… she'd have to choose sooner or later… it was just….

"Maria, you're on in 5…."

And she sighed again (she was doing that a lot lately), giving Santino a quick apologetic glance before shuffling out of the room and making her way to the ring.

_**Feeling guilty, worried  
Waking from a tormented sleep  
Ohh, this old love has me bound**_

_**But the new love cuts me deep**_

_**If I choose now  
I'll lose out  
One of you has to fall  
I need you  
You, baby**_

"Thank you sooo much New York!"

It was over, she had done it… She had completed the kiss cam and been bubbly and happy and everything the fans expected her to be, and now, she could go backstage and wallow in her indecisiveness but before she could even get out of the ring, Ashley's entrance music started blaring through the arena speakers and her heart skipped as she watched Ashley make her way to the ring. And Ashley got into the ring and enveloped her in a hug… a 'friendly' hug and for a fraction of a second, everything was okay… everything was almost perfect…. Until Santino's entrance music started blaring over the speakers accompanied by the usual 'boos' from the crowd…

And she knew, in that moment, she was going to have to choose… and she was going to have to choose now! _**  
**_

_**Why do you come here  
When you know I've got troubles enough  
Why do you call me  
When you know I can't answer the phone**_

_**And made me lie  
When I don't want to  
Make someone else some kind of an unknowing fool  
Make me stay  
When I should not  
Are you so strong or is all the weakness in me**_

_**Why do you come here  
And pretend to be just passing by  
But I need see you  
And I mean hold you tightly**_

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**The End... read and review please... :-p **


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